Irish Foreign Policy and Sub-Saharan Africa 1956-1976

Abstract

Using a wide variety of sources, from archival and printed works to the interviews with those involved in policy-making, this project uses the example of sub-Saharan African policy to explore the internationalisation of Irish foreign policy and its interaction with global politics. The narrative of Ireland's involvement in the decolonisation of Africa, policy on apartheid and minority rule, the importance of missionaries, and the evolution of an Irish development aid programme is inter-woven into a broader analysis of policy that looks at the growing influence of Europe, public opinion, and the changing international environment on Irish government policy.